Stem cell scaffolds, which can be both 2D and 3D in nature, have been fabricated to mimic the intrinsic characteristics of natural substrates such as muscle, bone and cartilage. (Jaiswal, N., et al., J. Cell Biochem. 1997, 64, 295; Engler, A. J., et al., Cell 2006, 126, 677; Reilly, G. C., et al., J. Biomech. 2010, 43, 55). Recently, both the lithographic patterning of suitable surfaces such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), self-assembled titanium dioxide (TiO2) rod arrays and functionalized carbon nanotubes have been explored. (Kim, S. J., et al. J. Mater. Sci: Mater. Med. 2008, 19, 2953; Dalby, M. J., et al., Nat. Mater. 2007, 6, 997; Oh, S., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2009, 106, 2130; Nayak, T. R., et al., ACS Nano, 2010, 4, 7717). While there have been tremendous advances in this field, many challenges still remain. In particular in the field of bone tissue engineering, almost all artificial materials require the administration of multiple growth factors to promote human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) differentiation and bioactive implants still suffer from severe limitations including potential pathogenic infections, low availability and high costs. In addition, many modern approaches also face further challenges when it comes to scalability and compatibility with implants.
Therefore, there remains a significant need for development of more biocompatible scaffolds that allow for better scalability of the biocompatible scaffold materials and compatibility with implants.